Day 28: Carrying the Message of Lovingkindness
I have the grand privilege of visiting a local treatment facility in our community on a regular basis. I love that place! I have missed my visits while practicing social distancing. One of the reasons I enjoy my visits is because of the hospitality. I am always greeted warmly and with great enthusiasm. Sometimes I pop down there just for a cup of kindness. In a world that is sometimes harsh and unwelcoming, it’s nice to have a place to go where people treat you like you’re special.
According to scripture, this kind of lovingkindness should be the hallmark of all our relationships. I remember a time when we used to hang out in public that I ran into my local gas station for my daily cup of coffee. I was standing patiently in line, waiting to buy my java and chat with my friends behind the counter. A lady came in and rammed me and several other patrons out of the way. She was rude, and she knew it. This is not the first time I’ve experienced this, nor will it be the last. But the thing that really got to me was that she didn’t even care! She knew she was pushing her way past three previously patiently waiting customers, but by gosh, she felt she was entitled! She treated my buddies behind the counter like they were her personal servants! She was demanding, and with all her snazzy clothes and sporty car—quite frankly, it made her look very unattractive. I’d say it added a good ten pounds of entitlement.
The contrast between her belligerent behavior and the warm kindness of the guys in my favorite rehab facility was startling. This lady (from all appearances) had a lot of stuff those guys don’t have right now: she had wheels, she had money, and she had really great clothes. But what my friends in treatment have far outweighs all that stuff; they have gratitude. They are grateful to have a warm place to stay while they heal. This gratitude just spills out of most of them and onto anyone who comes through the door. I have spent the better part of my day marveling at how differently we can perceive our worlds. Depending on our viewpoint, life can be marvelous with little or miserable with much.
“So, my dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.”
James 1:16-18 The Message
One indicator that we’re awake spiritually is when we’re grateful for the privilege of carrying the message of lovingkindness with us wherever we go, no matter the circumstances surrounding us. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to treat the essential workers among us with courtesy as we travel.
